Hypodermic needles of the type used for injections or for drawing blood samples generally include a removable protective cover or cap which protects the needle and helps to keep it sterile in storage until used. It has become a conventional medical procedure to replace the cap on a used, "contaminated" needle ("recap") to prevent accidental needlesticks. In this respect, accidental needlesticks are a major concern in the medical field because they can spread infectious diseases, such as hepatitis, veneral diseases and AIDS. Nevertheless, accidental needlesticks occur quite often during recapping of used needles. In this respect it was reported at the Third International Conference on AIDS in Washington in June 1987 that 36% of the physicians training in internal medicine in New York City hospitals stated that they have accidentally stuck themselves with needles used on AIDS patients. Needlesticks have become such a major concern, that a division has been establish within the Hospital Infection Center at the Center for Disease Control to study needlestick cases.
Attempts to reduce the chance of accidental needlesticks have led to the development of devices such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,623,336 and 4,610,667 to Pedicano et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,034 to Masters et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,975 to Frist et al. These devices generally relate to shields or funnel-shaped guards to protect the hand holding the protective cap during recapping. While these devices do provide greater protection for the user, they represent an increase in medical operating cost. In this respect, the disclosed devices relate either to a specific cap or cover design, or relate to a disposable holder suitable only for a single use. More importantly, however, each of these devices requires the use of two hands, i.e. one to hold the syringe with the needle, and the other to hold the cap or disposable shield. Use of these devices ultimately requires the used, contaminated needle to be moved toward another part of the body during recapping, specifically the hand holding the cap or sheath. With busy, rushed medical personnel (especially those who become too familiar with recapping procedures and/or those who rely too much on protective shields or funnels and therefore pay less attention when recapping the used needles), it will be appreciated that accidental needlesticks may still occur even with such devices. Any time a used, contaminated needle is being moved toward another part of the body, a slip of the hand, a bump, or a dropped syringe can result in an accidental needlestick.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems and provides an appliance for removing and replacing a protective cover on a syringe needle, which appliance does not require body parts to be in the vicinity of the used needle when recapping. Moreover, the appliance is quick and simple to use and is adapted for use with conventionally known protective needle covers.